Vietnam, RoK seek to promote FTA implementation

Hanoi (VNA) – A workshop was organised in Hanoi on December 20 to review
and promote the implementation of the free trade agreement (FTA) between
Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK).

The
event was jointly organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT),
the Korea-Vietnam FTA Support Centre and the Korean Trade
Investment Promotion Agency in Hanoi (KOTRA Hanoi).

Tran
Minh Trang, a representative from the MoIT’s Export – Import Department, pointed
out normal mistakes that enterprises often make while verifying the origin of products,
resulting in delays in the granting of certificates of origin (CO) and
administrative fines of 10-50 million VND (440 – 2,200 USD).

According
to a representative from the Korean Customs Service (KCS), Vietnamese
exporters need to follow strictly relevant regulations, including those on the
origin and classification of products.

Choi
Dae Kyoo, from the Korea-Vietnam FTA Support Centre, suggested
Vietnamese exporters focus on training staff in charge of product origin management
and develop a CO management system to better implement the FTA.

The
RoK side pledges to provide more assistance and consultation for Vietnamese
enterprises in order to realise the target of 70 billion in two-way trade by
2020.

Vietnam
and the RoK signed the free trade agreement in May last year, under which
Vietnam pledges to remove 8,521 tariff lines for the RoK, while RoK promises to
abolish 11,679 tariff lines for Vietnam.

The
bilateral trade value increased from 500 million USD in 1992 to 36.5 billion
USD in 2015. The RoK is the fourth largest export market and the second largest
import market of Vietnam.-VNA